I was thinking about something today and I thought I'd take a minute to explain. When talking about our packs, there is obviously a lot that Joe and I can tell you as we know them better than anyone.
We could get into all the engineering that went into the frame as well as technical mumbo jumbo about this material and that material, saying all the right things as to why ours is better and blah blah blah. Instead, I want to tell you how it makes me feel.
After owning about every pack on the market over a bunch of years preceding the idea of Initial Ascent, I just had never been totally happy with any of the other pack systems. It wasn't really pockets or organizational flaws, it was fit and feel which is the main thing in my book.
See, I've had a lower back issue since I was a sophomore in college. The injury is is my lumbar area and I've always "gotten by" with core strength and being careful about lifting properly.
All the packs before put pressure on my lower back, especially if I didn't position the loads correctly. Some were better than others. Some competitor's hip belts were unbearable, and some were just manageable.
This experience led to the 2-stage Initial Ascent Lumbar Pad in our hip belt. It's literally like I have a pillow on my lumbar area. It's SO comfortable and the tighter I get the hip belt, the more support I feel. The hip pads really wrap around my hips well and stay in place 100% of the time. It's perfect for me and my lower back.
Once I have my hipbelt tightened, I get a similar type of stability when I lock into the frame with the shoulder harness. I just feel solid. It doesn't matter how much weight I put in it. I, with my bad lower back, feel secure. I literally feel postured to go accomplish anything... in comfort. That was what I'd been missing all those years with the other packs.
When I'm on the mountain, whether packing in with all my gear, or hopefully packing out with a lot more, I was looking for security and dependability in my pack. It took Joe and I a lot of time to find the right recipe, but we did after several years of blood, sweat, and tears.
If you haven't found the pack for you yet, give ours a try. Maybe you have a bad lower back like me. If so, give ours a try. Maybe you have a good back but your core isn't as strong as it could be. If so, give ours a try. We want to make a difference in people's lives, and this could be the way to make your next hunt better.
If you want to take that next step to a better pack and a better experience, check out the "Pack Page".